Patrol

Medal of Valor Nomination Period Opens in May

The nomination period for the 2014-2015 Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor opens May 29, 2015. This medal is the highest national award for valor by a public safety officer, and is awarded to public safety officers who have exhibited exceptional courage, regardless of personal safety, in the attempt to save or protect human life.

An act of valor is defined as above and beyond the call of duty and exhibiting exceptional courage, extraordinary decisiveness, and presence of mind and unusual swiftness of action, regardless of his or her personal safety, in an attempt to save or protect human life.

Public safety officers must be nominated by the chief executive officer of their employing agencies; recommended by the bipartisan Medal of Valor Review Board; and cited by the Attorney General. Nominations must be submitted no later than 11:59 p.m. EDT on July 31, 2015. For more information, visit the Medal of Valor website at https://www.bja.gov/programs/medalofvalor/index.html.

Scanner audio captured an officer’s account of what happened at the scene, CWBChicago reports: “Ten people surrounded me, indicating that they had firearms. And one person pulled him away from me, holding his waist, indicating that he would use a firearm against me.”

There were so many police officers, sheriff’s deputies and Highway Patrol troopers that the court appearance had to be moved out of Justice Court to Judge John Larson’s Courtroom Number Three on the third floor of the Missoula County Courthouse.

The vehicle pursuit ended in the town of Kittitas where Deputy Thompson was backed up by Officer Benito Chavez. The suspect exited the vehicle and exchanged shots with the two law enforcement officers.

Sarah Wilson and her boyfriend were arrested during a stop in Chesapeake after officers allegedly found drugs in the 1996 Lexus the couple were driving. Police said they handcuffed Wilson and, while attempting to apprehend her boyfriend, 27-year-old Holden Medlin, he became combative and ran away from the scene.